Oases of Bacteria Provided Oxygen to Spark Evolution First Multicellular Animals Worldtime Buddy Makes Scheduling Meetings Across Time Zones Easy [Webapp] How heal psychological damage Top 5 European Mutual Funds Best The 10 key myths about Osama bin Laden What Travelers Can Learn from War Zone Reporters Canada bans electionnight tweeting on pain $25K fine Royal wedding two protests planned as police consider preemptive arrests Indian Tutors Teach British Kids Online 2.0 Palace gears up for big day Wingnut Blog Fail the Day Aaron Worthing A Soldier Speaks Out On Shutdown 'Leaders Eat Last.' Shiney Ahuja fallen Bollywood star jailed raping maid Goldcorp Plans Organic Growth Analyst Travel Tech Q&A Motorola's Gary Starr About time Making pupils aware causes tsunamis and other natural disasters Social Media Will Push Earth Hour Beyond Blackout Houston Livestock Show Draws International Crowd Analysts Debate Safety Nuclear Power Plants

** ** **What's the News**: Around 600 million years ago, Earth's first multicellular moving animals evolved. Known as the Ediacaran fauna, these early slug- and worm-like creatures fed off microbial mats that covered the ocean floor. For years, scientists have debated how these animals kept themselves from suffocating because the ocean at the time is thought to have had less than half of its current oxygen levels. Looking at modern environments that are also oxygen-depleted, scientists have discovered that oxygen levels spike near biomats, plant-like bacteria that pump out oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis. "We think that animals used the small but highly oxygenated zones as oases," lead author Murray Gingras told _Nature_, giving the world's first complex animals the kick-start they needed to evolve. "This is a really neat solution to an old problem," Ediacaran researcher Jim Gehling told _New Scientist_. **How the Heck**: The researchers found a proxy for the ancient, oxygen-depleted environment by traveling to lagoons in the Los Roques archipelago in Venezuela. Just like the ocean 600 million years ago, the ... Worldtime Buddy is a webapp that not only displays the local time for multiple cities at once, but makes scheduling meetings world-wide easy by supplying a URL to a page showing how the meeting time will change across time zones. More » From Haiti to Gaza, psychologist James Gordon counsels survivors of disasters around the world Perhaps it has always been this way. But it seems that we have been inundated with disasters – both man-made and natural – recently. Japan; New Zealand; Haiti. In each case, our TV screens are filled with images of rescue workers. Countless aid agencies are active, from Save the Children to the medical wing of the Israeli Army, delivering essential humanitarian aid. But what about the psychological damage? This is where Dr James Gordon, a 69-year-old psychologist from Washington DC fits in. Gordon is a big man with a flashing smile and something of the evangelist about him. His medical credentials are impressive: Harvard and the National Institute of Mental Health, a former adviser to Presidents Carter and Clinton. But he is also an expert in alternative medicine. In 1991, he founded the Centre for Mind-Body Medicine, which "combines the precision of modern science with the wisdom of the world's healing traditions". And he has made it his mission to work in disaster zones. "If people are psychologically traumatised, they can't make proper use of aid," he explains when we meet in London. ... Add Europe to your portfolio with these Zacks top ranked Mutual Funds. CIA project? Drug runner? Arsenal fan? Debunking the myths surrounding al- Qaida's leader **1. Osama bin Laden was 'created' by the CIA ** He did not receive any direct funding or training from the US during the 1980s. Nor did his followers. The Afghan mujahideen, via Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency, received large amounts of both. Some bled to the Arabs fighting the Soviets but nothing significant. **2. He had a huge personal fortune** Bin Laden was forced to leave any cash he had when he in effect fled Saudi Arabia in 1991 for Pakistan and then Sudan. His family cut him off. Nor would the inheritance from his hugely wealthy father have been divided into equal parts anyway. What Bin Laden did have was contacts, which allowed him to raise money with ease. **3. He was responsible for 1993 bombing of World Trade Centre** Ramzi Yousef, who was the main perpetrator of the attack, was probably working for Khaled Sheikh Mohammed who was an independent operator at the time. Mohammed only started working with al-Qaida in 1996 and even then kept his distance from Bin Laden. **4. He got money from drug running** No evidence for this whatsoever despite ... A couple weeks before leaving for my recent short trip to Qatar, a book came into the office titled How to Avoid Being Killed in a War Zone. Although I had been told Qatar was remarkably safe, I was still going to a part of the world known for turmoil, so I leafed through the book with interest. I was delighted to learn that the book's author, British journalist Rosie Garthwaite, is based in Doha, Qatar's capital, so I tracked her down and emailed her asking if she'd have time to meet up when I was there. Over nonalcoholic lime mint drinks at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, we chatted about her book (out in July) and what living in Doha is like. (Little would I know that just a few days after our talk, her book would seem unfortunately timely with the deaths of photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros during ongoing combat in Libya.) Here are some excerpts from my Q&A with Garthwaite: Pusher sez, "Elections Canada has vowed to enforce an archaic law that bans 'premature transmission' -- the broadcasting of election results before all polls in the country have closed on election night. And yes, the law applies to private citizens' Twitter and Facebook accounts. The law has already been upheld by the Supreme Court and carries penalties of up to a $25,000 fine or up to five years in prison." Canada spans 3.5 timezones and elections administrators worry that poll data from "earlier" timezones will influence voters to the west, who might shift their votes to join (or block) a wave. Back in 1938, when radio was king, Canada's election law was amended to include a ban on the "premature transmission" of electoral results across time zones. The idea was to prevent radio broadcasts of election results in Eastern Canada from influencing voter behaviour in the West. The law, frankly, was always patronizing and paternalistic. There has never been any evidence that voting patterns in the West were, or would be, influenced by results from the East. Even if they were, why should the government deny voters in the West the opportunity to cast their ... Scotland Yard to mount one of its biggest ever operations on the day of the wedding amid fears of disruption by activists Police across the country could make pre-emptive strikes in the coming days to arrest activists intent on causing trouble during the royal wedding, Scotland Yard has revealed. The Metropolitan police are working with other forces across England and Wales and using local intelligence to identify activists and anarchists who they believe are committed to carrying out criminal activity on 29 April. "We will attempt to prevent people coming to London to carry out criminal activity," said assistant commissioner Lynne Owens, head of central operations at Scotland Yard, adding there would be police activity in the days ahead of the event to "disrupt any criminal behaviour that may be anticipated". But the tactic of making pre-emptive arrests of groups or individuals planning demonstrations is controversial. Police have to prove that a criminal plot has taken place before moving in, or that a breach of the peace is imminent, for example seconds, minutes or possibly hours away, according to legal experts. Scotland Yard has also said that two groups have applied for permission to protest in the ... Early results suggest idea is improving exam results; but not everyone is happy at 'outsourcing' of tutoring Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be screened on official YouTube channel with pics posted on Flickr The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be streamed live via YouTube, with royal household staff tweeting updates and posting pictures on photo-sharing site Flickr. Royal household officials on Tuesday unveiled an official YouTube channel that will live stream the 29 April event so that internet users can watch it anywhere in the world. Royal wedding viewers on Google-owned YouTube will get the BBC's coverage, but without the commentary provided by Huw Edwards and the rest of the corporation's presenting team. As well as being broadcast live online royal officials will manage a live multimedia blog and augment coverage on a dedicated Twitter feed, @ClarenceHouse, as well as loading images on to Flickr. "Staff at Clarence House and St James's Palace will provide a live commentary with historical information, interesting links, additional photographs and video footage as well as an integrated Twitter feed," the palace said in a statement. The royal household is encouraging technologically inclined viewers to interact on the day sending messages of congratulations via a Twitter hash tag, #rw2011, and launching an official YouTube "wedding book" ... I woke up today feeling masochistic, I guess, because I spent about 15 minutes having a look around the wingnut blogosphere to see what was shaking in the Land of Epistemic Closure. The Daily Caller has an article accusing Glenn Beck of using the work of numerous right wing loons (such as Andrew Breitbart) without attribution. The loons apparently want to make sure they get credit for inspiring the most batshit insane TV personality in history. And I say, go for it! Take your glory back! This tale of "content theft" spurred Aaron Worthing, one of the bloggers at Patterico (the wingnut site run by Deputy District Attorney John Patrick Frey of the Hardcore Gang Division, LA County, Compton), to complain bitterly that his groundbreaking work proving climate change to be a hoax had also been stolen, by a writer at the website of hack global warming denier Anthony Watts, "Watt's Up With That:" Patterico's Pontifications » Watts Up With Taking Content Without Attribution? Worthing goes on at length about the timestamps on his post compared to the timestamps on the post at Watts Up, concluding with great magnanimity: > ...this is much more about the message ... A soldier talks about soldiers losing their paychecks. Bollywood star sentenced to seven years in prison as actor Arshad Warsi accuses Indian courts of 'targeting actors' A Bollywood star has been convicted of rape in a judgment that activists say shows effective punishment of sexual violence to women in India is possible. Shiney Ahuja, 38, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a court in Mumbai, India's commercial and cinematic centre. He had been accused of raping a woman working as a maid, 18 at the time of the offence, in his flat two years ago. Rape investigations in India rarely result in a trial let alone a conviction. The famous and the powerful also often escape charges or can either intimidate or bribe their way to freedom. "It is very important that people with money and clout don't get away with it. This is very significant," said Madhu Kishwar, a respected academic and founder editor of Manushi, a women's issues magazine. Although the victim had withdrawn her evidence, the judge relied on earlier statements as well as medical reports, bloodstains on her clothes, traces of semen on a bed and curtains and the fact that the hand of the star was ... Goldcorp Inc. has decided to set aside its acquisition strategies for the time being and concentrate only on developing its large pipeline of projects in America. Often subjected to the inside of a plane, Gary Starr, managing director of Motorola Solutions Australia, shares his travel experiences with us. Inside the bizarre world of time zones David Robinson explains how the Guardian's Teacher Network could raise the awareness of children and improve their understanding of global events The earthquake and tsunami in Japan have heightened awareness of the power and unpredictable nature of tectonic processes. Natural disasters have long been part of the curriculum, but, for pupils living in a remarkably safe country, the topics can lack immediacy and relevance. As teachers and parents, we want our children to understand major global events – they help raise awareness of other places, cultures and lifestyles, and introduce the concepts of empathy and global communities. Events such as those unfolding in Japan provide specific, topical examples of how the planet influences our lives. Reacting to world events and incorporating them into lessons while they are still "hot topics" has always been a challenge, and that is one of the factors behind the Guardian's new Teacher Network, which provides teachers with reliable, original resource materials that are simple to use. Twenty-two years ago, I had to deliver a lesson on earthquakes and tsunamis. The grainy images of the 1923 Kanto quake in my class textbooks were not going to grab my year 9s' attention. The Loma ... For one hour on March 26, millions of people will turn off their lights and sit in relative darkness. It may seem like a random way to support e… Cowboys, rodeos and prized cattle attract ranchers and other visitors to the annual event Situation prompts analysts to debate whether nuclear power is safe to use in earthquake-prone regions
Key Words: world time zones

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